Thx to…
Japponess: See what Tenten did when Neji first used Hands of Hakke on her XD
Kaeru Soyokaze: Yes…being an ANBU is very dangerous work…Lee is great when he's drunk!…and of course tenten and neji kick ass and are cute together…
Hibiyuru: Its out now
OkonomiyakeUcchan: They'll fight soon enough XD …and Tenten does have mood swings…like every other teenage girl
MisSs005: Thx!
Moonlightpath: Well, there u go then lol
Crazy-antman: Neji vs. Tenten…who will win?
Shirubui-chan: …nah, Tenten not that kind of person lol XD
MegDeity: …who knows what else Neji is hiding beneath that cool manner…
H!kAR: Sounds good to me lol thx
Silent Shinobi: Yes, beware of hormones…
And thx to everyone else who reviewed XD
…sorry…no Tenten bloodline yet…
Chapter 7 Tears
"TENTEN GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS BACK HERE!"
Tenten chattered happily as she leapt onto a 20-meter high rafter, dodging several flying pieces of ceramics. Neji leapt up and landed on the rafter. He snarled at her. She merely winked at him and took off giggling crazily. He dove after in hot pursuit, pulling out a set of kunais. With animal ferocity he hurled them at Tenten, who, being a weapons master, caught them with relative ease, as she flipped over a table. Neji immediately put on a burst of speed, closing the distance between the two. I am so gonna kill her…
She suddenly jerked right and jumped through an open window. Neji followed suit. He smiled evilly as he saw his chance. He threw his weight through the air and tackled her in mid-air, wrapping his arms around her waist. Tenten let a small gasp as they plummeted to the ground.
"OWWWW! Neji! You hurt me!"
"You deserved it…now prepare for the beating…of…oh…" He was about to pound her face into the ground, but then noticed that he was lying right on top of her, and she happened to have landed on her back. He could feel her warm body squirm uncomfortably beneath him.
"So Neji…are you going to help this little girl up, or were you just getting comfortable there on top?" She smirked at him. Neji immediately blushed red as he rolled off her and dragged her to her feet. Not looking her in the eye he muttered a small apology. Tenten smiled and pinched his cheek, mocking him about how he was finally growing up and learning manners. Neji was about to use his Hakke on her, but then he remembered the last time he did that without thinking…
Flashback
"Ok Neji…I want you to use your Hands of Hakke on me…I need to build up my stamina…"
Neji looked at her queerly. "What have you been drinking? Or smoking?"
"Neji, not fooling…anyways…Gai-sensei suggested this…" She stared stubbornly into his eyes, taking him aback.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"THEN REPARE YOURSELF!" He hurtled towards her, "You are within my field of Divination! 64 HANDS OF HAKKE STRIKE!"
He reached her as a white blur, he two finger thrusting out to strike her tenketsu points. He struck rapidly, her shoulders, legs, arms. He spun her around and struck her back repeatedly, jabbing at the points. 16…32…and…
He spun her around again, "64 STR—"
He then found he couldn't move his arms. He then noticed he was touching something soft…warm…and when he looked at his hands, he nearly fainted. They happened to be in mid-strike, touching the last two tenketsu points. The points just happened to be on her chest. The points were right next too… Oh shit…
And thus his fingers were touching… Not good…
'Neji…" Her hands were gripping his wrists. She spoke his name slowly again. "Neji…?"
Neji, trembling, slowly looked at her face, her eyes covered by her bangs.
"Y-Y-Yes T-Tenten?"
"Did you forget I was a girl…? I may be a kunoichi…but I'm still very much a girl…with certain body parts which boys like you should keep their dirty…hands off of…you should respect my being a girl no less…right, Neji-kun?" She looked up, her eyes in slits. He had never been so scared in his life. Neji was about to wet his pants. Unfortunately she didn't give him the time to.
CRACK! CRACK!
"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEE! MY FINGERS!"
Gai and Lee heard a scream, and immediately they stopping beating up the logs around them. The looked in the direction of the scream, and then at each other. The grinned happily and made the good-guy pose together, killing some poor sparrows who happened to be flying overhead. Then they proceed to streak off hollering their battle-cry. They arrived at the edge of the clearing in time to see Tenten piledrive Neji into the ground and kick him repeatedly between the legs while half of him was submerged in the earth.
Tenten spotted them and glared at them. Lee was about to ask why she was beating the crap out of Neji when Gai suddenly grabbed him by the collar and ran off.
"MASTER GAI! WHY DID WE DO THAT?"
"WE SHOULD LEAVE THE TWO TO THEIR OWN BUSINESSES! SOMETIMES IT PAYS NOT TO GET INVOLVED!"
Back to Present
A slightly and dusty ruffled Tenten, accompanied by a nonplussed Neji, arrived in the Dining Hall several minutes late. Tenten quickly pushed some strands of hair behind her ear, which had fallen out of the buns during the chase. All eyes were on them. Tenten, not used to having so much attetntion, blushed and kept her head down, her bangs overshadowing her face. Neji noticed her embarrassment and quickly pushed her to where they were supposed to sit. Just as they sat down, the double doors opened again, and Hitomi and her father entered. Hiashi waved them over to sit by him, but Hitomi's father motioned for her to go sit by Neji.
She apparently did so with reluctance, but she smiled warmly at Tenten and Neji as she sat down.
"Good Morning Neji-san, and Tenten-san."
Tenten gave a cheery "hello", while Neji muttered a terse "Hn."
"My, Neji-san, I'd think you to have more manners while socializing."
Tenten snorted, smirking at her plate of scrambled eggs.
"Do you have a teammate by the name of Rock Lee?"
Tenten answered "Yes." for Neji.
"He's an interesting character…helped me with some trouble with missing-nin a day ago…enthusiastic young fellow, isn't he? But very friendly and open…something becoming rarer and rarer amongst the generations, eh?"
Neji glared at her, as though daring her to call him an egotist of sorts.
Tenten bit the end of a sausage. "She is right though Neji…some people out to be more open…"
"Tenten…shut up and eat your breakfast."
"Neji, you are an egotistical, chauvinistic, freaky little pig." Several of the Hyuugas sitting around them stared at the three. Tenten merely smiled nonchalantly at Neji, who had shifted his glare to the weapons master now. They then ate the rest of their breakfast in stony silence.
"Okay, see ya, Neji! When you're done, I'll be at our normal training grounds, k?"
"Hn."
Tenten stood on the steps of the Hyuuga Dining Hall and waved the couple off. Well…she seems like a nice girl…upper-class just like Neji…she'll suit him just fine…
She walked around the building around the Hyuuga Estates. But she felt a tinge of sadness pull at her heart strings. We're just friends though…right?
She leaned against the wall of the structure as she thought it over. Neji-san…just a teammate…one of my few friends…and someone I trust?
The tug on her heartstrings was getting stronger. But what do I really feel about him? Do I…love him?
She shook her head. I can't be jealous, I have to be happy for him…yeah…that's right…
A single tear ran down the side of her face. Quickly, she wiped it off, afraid that someone would notice her crying.
"What is the matter?"
Tenten looked up, reaching towards her pouch for a kunai. She then realized that she had been stripped of all weapons last night.
"Tsk tsk…so touchy with Neji gone now…so tell me what's really troubling you?"
Hiashi was standing next to her, his aging yet stern face looking down at her. But he had a soft smile on as well.
"N-Nothing, Hiashi-sama sir!" She quickly blinked, trying to dispel any trace of tears. "I-I just got s-something in eye…sorry…"
"Why the sama? No need to be so polite now, you are a friend of my nephew after all…so I take it that you have more than just feelings of friendship towards him…do you…love my nephew?" His pearl-white eye stared into her brown ones, searching. Tenten tore her gaze away, unable to keep it up any longer. "No…of course not…he's just a teammate…"
"Really now…well let me tell you something about Neji…remember that mission a couple weeks ago, where you failed to return, and was presumed KIA?"
She nodded.
"Well…he took the news with no expression or outburst of surprise. In fact, he didn't say anything. His face was again masked without emotion. But he returned to his quarters, and I followed him. I found him weeping on his bed, crying your name…and then, when you miraculously returned…well, from what I heard, he actually smiled at your homecoming celebration…and believe me when I say…his current relations with Hitomi will not work out…I believe that that girl has also found someone else…"
Tenten looked at him in awe. Had the Hyuuga Hiashi, came out just to tell her, a little 18-year old girl something like this? But, if what he said was true…then she still had hope…she smiled at him, tears of joy pouring down her face.
She tried to wipe off the tears, afraid that he might see her as weak, but Hiashi merely smiled and said, "I used to believe that tears were for the weak…but I was wrong…tears of joy are fine, and crying for loved ones is also quite acceptable…it's almost like a sign of respect…"
Completely unexpectedly, he reached out and brushed a tear from her eye. "Now cheer up, child. I am certain Neji wouldn't want to come back finding he had caused his teammate to shed tears for absolutely no reason… now wipe those tears out child…you're a jounin…aren't you supposed to either be training or on a mission?"
She nodded at him, smiling through the tears.
Neji walked down the streets, with Hitomi walking gracefully by his side. "So Neji-san…I guess since we are to be wed, we should get to know each other…so what do you do for fun?"
"Train."
"Really? I love to train as well…I heard that you are a great fighter…one of the top ranked jounin in Konoha."
"Hn." People walking around were staring at the odd couple. They could have sworn they saw Hyuuga Neji walking another girl just the other day.
"So what exactly did you want to see in Konoha?"
"Nothing really, just wanted to get to know my fiancée…"
"Hn…" They walked past a dress store. Neji noticed that Hitomi shared some similarities with Tenten; she didn't seem to care much for cosmetics or dresses, as she never batted an eye in the direction of all the brightly colored apparel on display, and she also didn't have qualms about talking about training. Tenten…
"You are a Jounin, yes?" He snapped out of his stupor.
"Just like you! I have 10 C-ranked, 7 B-ranked, and 4 A-ranked completed…you?"
Neji was shocked, as he didn't expect the Hidden Rain leader to let her daughter put herself through so much danger.
"3 C-ranked, 2-B-ranked, 13 A-ranked, and 2-S ranked…"
"13 A-ranked? Wow, that's amazing…only to be expected from the heir of the Hyuuga Clan…and 2 S-ranked…"
"I'm not the heir…Hyuuga Hinata, my cousin, is the heir…I'm merely a Side Branch family member…" He grimaced.
"Oh…I'm very sorry…" she looked away in embarrassment.
"Hn…"
Tenten stood by herself in the middle of the clearing, holding her Guan Dao. Hiashi had gotten her weapons back for her. Funnily enough, when they arrived at the armory, they found that several members of the main Branch had taken Tenten's weapons out for a trial run. Hiashi had to restrain Tenten to keep her from tearing them apart.
Slowly, she went through the basic forms of her personal style, the Rising Dragon. Ever so slowly, she increased the speed.
So, her motions were all but a blur.. Starting in a crouch, she held the pole across her back, feeling the reassuring weight of her weapon. She rose up, flipping the pole around and slashing the blade upwards in a vertical cross, sending an invisible opponent sky-high. She leapt up, after her foe and flipped sideways, so that she was parallel to the ground. In a massive sweep, she spun around, feeding her chakra through the weapon, releasing an energy sickle from the blade. The arc would have normally cut through her opponent, but instead it struck the ground, unleashing a booming explosion.
She landed lightly on the ground in another crouching stance. Tenten leapt forward and hacked downwards viciously, the force of the blade blowing a furrow in the ground without touching it. She walked forward, rotating on her left foot and spinning around with her blade rapidly, blowing up great gusts of wind. She broke into a run towards some targets she had set up.
Running through the gauntlet of wooden dummies, she wielded the 45-kg weapon as though it was a mere stick, lashing out left and right and she flew past the wooden figurines. The decapitated heads flew into the air. At the end of the gauntlet she whipped around, and without looking, pulled a handful of kunai from her pouch with only her right hand and hurled them behind her at the heads. Anyone who was watching would've only seen a blur rush past the dummies, and the heads magically flying off, with kunai embedded in each within less than a second.
She smiled happily as she saw that all of her kunais struck the flying heads squarely in the middle. She sat down, wiping sweat from her brow. Flourishing her pole arm with one hand, she pulled out a scroll with another. Muttering a few words, the weapon disappeared in a flash. Tenten pulled open the scroll, revealing pictures of hundreds of different weapons. There, she spotted the Guan Dao she had just been using. She smiled as she browsed over the rest of the weapons, wondering which one to practice. She decided on her katana. With a mere thought, the picture of the katana disappeared, magically erased, and an exact duplicate, all too solid and real, appeared in front of her. This was her way of storing weapons.
They don't call me the weapons master for nothing…"TENTEN!" Tenten turned towards the sound of the voice, to see her fellow jounin and partner, Rock Lee. He flashed her grin as he bounded towards her.
"Tenten! I have finally gotten over Sakura!"
"Really, that's great news!" She smiled. She remembered finding Lee weeping and running laps around Konoha, after Sakura had brutally rejected him for the last time.
"So you got a girlfriend now?"
"No, but I found a potential candidate!"
Lee jumped and threw his arms around the kunoichi, crushing Tenten with a massive bearhug. Lee was probably the only shinobi in Konoha to have made it to Jounin without using any ninjutsu or genjutsu. Of course, his Taijutsu was remarkable, in addition to his mastering of the Lotus Techniques and the Eight Gates. He was probably only second to Master Gai. Of course, his speed was second to none, especially after he opened his Eight Gates. Hell, Tenten was considered one of the fastest kunoichi around, but her agility was nothing compared to Lee with his Eight Gates open.
"Wanna spar?"
"Not yet! I must tell you about this beautiful maiden!"
Tenten cocked her head, smiling. She loved his antics, he could always bring a smile to her face. Tenten considered him the brother she had never had..
"Her name is…USAGA HITOMI!"
"…Oh that's a pretty name, Hitomi…waitaminute…I think I heard it somewhere before…" Tenten's eyes widened as she remembered the meeting.
"I know! And she has beautiful blonde hair!"
Tenten breathed a sigh of relief. Probably just same names…
"And she's the daughter of the Hidden Rain Kage! AND GUESS WHAT? SHE SPARRED WITH MEEE!"
Tenten blinked stupidly. Oh Shit…Lee's gonna rampage once I tell him…
"NOOO TENTEN WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR YOUTHFULNESS?"
"Whaa?" Tenten blinked some more.
"You look like someone sucked your brains out and put them in a mixer and poured them back in."
His imagination knows no limits…"Ummm, how should I put this? Umm…your Hitomi…umm…is already engaged…"
"WHAT?" He roared. Tenten cringed. She remembered when Neji had said Master Gai was acting gay, and Lee nearlydefeated him in their next sparring match. Lee had gone all out, using his Lotus on Neji in combination with the Eight Gates of Power.
"Umm, "she said in a very tiny, timid voice, "She's engaged to Neji…"
Forgive me Neji…"NOOOOOOOOO NEJI HAS ONCE AGAIN TROUNCED ME! BUT I SHALL DEFEAT HIM!" His eyes were once again burning with that freak fire thing. Tenten whimpered softly and cowered on the ground as Lee ran around the place breaking things.
"Oh Tenten? Did I scare you?"
She nodded slowly.
"I'M SOOO SORRY WILL YOU EVER FORGIVE MEE?"
He picked her up again and crushed her in a massive bear hug.
"Sure. Just put me down…"
"Sorry…"
Tenten grinned. "Well Nej—"
Lee rushed off, screaming vows about beating the crap out of Neji.
Tenten sighed and once again returned to training, taking another stance, the curved blade held with her left leg leading and the blade held skew to her body. She envisioned a random Sound nin in front of her promptly began her swift dissection of his innards.
End chp 7
Neji: you cried for me?
Tenten: (nods meekly)
Neji: Weakling…
Tenten: (begins to cry again)
BL: You idiot! You made her cry again! Apologize! (audience boos Neji)
Neji: …fine…Tenten? I'm sorry…you're not weak at all…
Tenten: (proceeds to smile and glomps him) Yay!
BL: happy endings are always nice XD I wish my life could have a happy ending
Neji: Tenten? Get off of me…
Tenten: (PUPPY FACE NO JUTSU) Whaaa?
Neji: Damn you Tenten! (Translation: I love you too, Tenten)
Audience: Awwww…
kk ppl Review now
